BETTER LOCAL GOVERNMENT
A programme for change
Summary
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December 1996
This programme charts the course for local government into the new
millennium. It sets out the approaches to be followed, and the
measures to be taken, to enable local government to realise its full
potential as an instrument of democratic local self-government and
as a means of delivering quality public services.
THE NEED FOR CHANGE
Local Government has served this country well. Whether through providing an
outlet for democratic self-expression in the years before the foundation of the
State, through playing a key role in improving housing conditions in the post
independence years or through bringing water supplies to rural areas later on,
local government has always been a major force for good in Irish life. Today, local
authorities are responsible for many of the essential services on which we depend
– housing, roads, water services, the planning systems, environmental
improvement, fire safety, amenities. Local authorities have a record of
achievement of which they can justifiably be proud.
There is, however, a need for change:

Local authority functions are too narrow, inhibiting comprehensive and
integrated responses to problems.

The system as it has operated has not allowed councillors to fully realise
the policy role which has always envisaged for them;

Local Authorities have tended to be by-passed by new approaches to local
development which have been pursued through the creation of a wide
range of disparate organisations.

There have been too many central controls on local authorities, stifling
local initiative and self reliance; and

Resources have been so scarce as to adversely affect performance of the
traditional functions and prevent proper use of discretionary powers to act
in new areas of endeavour for the benefit of the local community.
There have been improvements in recent years but now is the time for a strategic
approach to local government renewal.
The programme is the culmination of an extensive process of analysis and
consultation about the place of local government in our economy and society, a
process which was initiated by commitments in A Government of Renewal to
improved public services and better local government.
Among the milestones in this process were:



The government statement in July 1995 on local government
reform;
The report in April 1996 of the Reorganisation Commission on
Town Local Government Towards Cohesive Local Government –
Town and County;
The report by consultants in June 1996 on local government
financing;

The interim report of the Devolution Commission in June 1996 and
the associated Government statement of August 1996.
The programme sets out the Government’s decisions on local government
renewal and details of action to achieve it.
PRINCIPLES
The Programme is based on four core principles:

Enhancing local democracy and widening participation;

Serving the customer better;

Developing efficient in local government; and

Providing proper resources to allow local government to fulfil the role
assigned to it.
Also at the heart of the Programme is the conviction that the renewal of local
government will not be real and lasting unless the councillors, managers and staff
in local authorities commit themselves wholeheartedly to, and play a full part in,
the process of change. There must be self-renewal. Local authorities will be
expecting to do this by embracing the Government’s Strategic Management
Initiative and implementing it in their organisations.
MEASURES
STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY

The Government will support constitutional recognition of local
government

Ireland will sign and ratify the European Charter of Local SelfGovernment.

Local government will be represented on the National Economic and
Social Council.

There will be an enhanced role for the democratically-elected councillors
o As local government integrates with local development and
assumes a greater role in relation to other public services delivered
locally;
o They will have a more significant role in the strategic management
of their councils. This will be achieved through the mechanism of
Strategic Policy Committees, based on the main services of the
council, to be established in county and city and the larger urban
authorities;
o The chairpersons of these committees, together with the
chairperson of the council, will form a corporate policy group which
will give increased focus to the policy role of councillors and greatly
enhance democratic control of council affairs; and
o They will be given greater support to enable them to fulfil these
new roles.

The partnership approach to national economic and social planning will be
mirrored in the representation on the Strategic Policy Committees of local
interests
(e.g.
industry,
voluntary
organisations,
farmers,
environmentalists) relevant to the committees’ work.

County/city councils will be encouraged to decentralise decision-making
and service delivery by building on the existing area committee system.
WIDENING THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The systems of local government and local development (LEADER,
Partnerships, County Enterprise Boards) will be more closely linked
through:
o The appointment by each county and city authority of a director of
community and enterprise development and
o The establishment of Community and Enterprise Groups which will
include members (at least half) drawn from local development
bodies.

Community and Enterprise Groups will promote coordination between
local government and local development and develop plans for their
integration from 1 January 2000. Partnership and participation will
remain central features in this process to build on the success of local
development initiatives.

Personnel of State agencies will be available to attend local authority
meetings to discuss the policies being pursued locally by their agencies.

There will be greater liaison between the Garda and local authorities
through structures consultation arrangements.

The Devolution Commission will identify a range of additional functions
suitable for assigning to local authorities.
IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF SERVICE

There will be greater emphasis on providing quality services and on
serving the needs of customers.

Performance indicators will be used to measure and compare local
authority activities in the delivery of key services and a special working
group will be established to identify the key standards and indicators.

High level project teams will be established to develop within six months,
proposals for one stop shop centres covering a wide range of public
services to be implemented on a pilot basis. These ‘gateways to
government’ will be public offices to which people can go to transact
business with their county council and other public services such as social
welfare, health, tax. The project teams will take full account of, and build
on, existing initiatives in this area.

Local authorities will undertake quality initiatives to improve particular
services.

A quality awards scheme will be introduced to encourage local authority
work in this area.

A comprehensive list of public rights to information from local authorities
will be published.

The general public will be given a legal right to attend council meetings.
PAYING FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT

A new system of funding will be introduced.

The full yield from motor taxation will be become a dedicated local
authority revenue will be used to finance an equalisation fund which will
be established to ensure fair treatment of all local authorities and no
reduction in resources for any local authority.

Central Government will still set the rates of motor tax but, for 1998 and
onwards, county and city authorities will have power to vary the national
rates. The variation will not exceed six per cent and this will be limited in
the first year (1998) to a maximum of three per cent. There will be no
increase in motor tax in the interim.

The rate support grant to local authorities will be discontinued.

Charges for domestic water supply and sewerage facilities will be abolished
with effect from 1 January 1997.

The new arrangements have two main advantages:
o Buoyancy, as local authorities will benefit on a continuous basis
from growth in car ownership; and
o Discretion, as local authorities will be able, within reasonable
limits, to raise additional revenue locally in accordance with local
needs and priorities.

Targets will be set for local authorities to reduce and eliminate their
financial deficits

A major programme will be put in place to ensure maximum efficiency and
effectiveness in local authorities:
o More extensive value for money auditing
o Greater use of performance indicators
o A new financial management system
o A comprehensive efficiency audit of county council operations in
the roads area will be undertaken shortly; and
o Legislation for prompt payment by local authorities

Proposals will be developed for a local contribution for a defined period
towards discretionary developmental projects or programmes.
THE HUMAN DIMENSION

The 30,000 people employed by local government are its most valuable
resource. They need to be allowed and enabled to reach their full potential
in the service of the local community.

Consultation with staff interests on human resources proposals will be
essential.

There will be further devolution of decisions on human resources issues
from DoE to local authorities.

A new management tier will be created in local authorities with clear
responsibility for individual programmes and a leading role in servicing
the Strategic Policy Committees.

A Local Government Management Services Board will be established from
1 January 1997 to support human resources management in local
authorities.

A special development programme will be established with the aim of
increasing the number of women managers in local authorities.

The distinctions between officers and non-officers – archaically referred to
as servants – will be abolished.

Further ‘flattening’ of clerical and administrative grades will be sought.

A unified staffing structure will be the aim for town and county
authorities.

With the development of the new management structure, greater
opportunities will exist for the involvement of engineering and other
professional /technical staff in the management of local authorities.
Recruitment will be subject to a major review; greater opportunities will
be provided for graduate entry to local government.


More investment will be required in training and development; local
authorities will be expected to devote at least three per cent of payroll to
staff training and development.

A code of practice will be developed in relation to the employment of
people with disabilities. Local authorities are required to meet the three
per cent employment target at least.
GETTING THE ORGANISATION RIGHT

The regional authorities will be assigned new responsibilities for
promoting sustainable development.

Measures are proposed to improve the level of commitment of public
bodies (including local authorities) to the regional authorities.

The Dublin and Mid-East regional authorities will have a role in drawing
up land use planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area which will
have to be respected by the local authorities in the area when considering
development plans. This will be extended to other areas as necessary.

The country and city authorities will remain the principal units of local
government; but action is proposed to take account of services requiring
co-operative efforts on a larger scale; to encourage decentralisation to area
level and to address service delivery where boundaries intersect.

The development of town authorities will be supported and their capacity
enhanced to play the fullest role possible in local government affairs.

There will be greater co-operation between county councils and town
authorities with the provision of services in towns on a harmonised basis
and co-ordinated plans of action for town improvement.

Local Government law will be consolidated and modernised.
IMPLEMENTATION
Implementation of the Programme will be driven by DOE in consultation with
local authorities and other public bodies. There will be regular progress reports
on implementation which will be published.
CONCLUSION
The need for change in local government has been on the policy agenda for a long
time – too long. Ireland needs a strong and vibrant system of local government
which empowers people to decide matters which are best decided locally and
provides quality public services.
This Programme contains the most comprehensive series of measures ever for
change in Irish local government. By confronting the difficult issues and giving a
detailed action programme to tackle them, it sets the agenda for delivering better
local government. The aim will be to create a system which delivers its own
services efficiently and effectively, has a real input to other public agencies
delivering local services, engages meaningfully with the community, and plays a
far more central role in the democratic system. This aim will be realised by the
measures detailed in the Programme and by the commitment to self – renewal
from local authorities themselves.
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